Save Mart Launches Online Shopping Platform

As the Amazon-fueled race for grocery delivery ensues, The Save Mart Cos. is the latest retailer to enhance its omnichannel offerings with a new online shopping platform, called ClickCart, featuring curbside pick-up and delivery options.

The service is currently available at the Modesto, Calif., Save Mart store located on Pelendale Ave. as well as the new Lucky California store on Fallon Road in Dublin, Calif., with plans to expand to additional locations later this year.

“ClickCart allows families with limited free time to order online in the convenience of their own home or   on the go and pick-up curbside,” Kim Musgrave, director of digital and loyalty marketing at Modesto, Calif.-based Save Mart, said in a statement. “We may not be the first grocer to offer online shopping, but we took the time to make sure our service reflected our shopper’s needs.”

Several retailers this year have rolled out expanded digital services including Macey’s, which recently unveiled a new digital strategy to unify its online and in-store shopping experiences, and BJ’s Wholesale Club, which updated its website to feature new services like online ordering for in-store pick-up.

The pace of change and omnichannel adoption has surpassed initial expectations, according to findings from the Food Marketing Institute and Nielsen, with a prediction that 70% of consumers will be grocery shopping online in as few as five to seven years.

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Bigger players, too, are pouring resources into their omnichannel offerings to compete for the segment. Walmart Inc. in April acquired online grocery delivery courier DoorDash, for instance, and Ahold Delhaize recently launched a new e-commerce unit, Peapod Digital Labs, which it said would drive digital and e-commerce innovation while overseeing Peapod, the company’s e-commerce retailer.

Designed to specifically cater to Save Mart customers’ shopping patterns, a ClickCart pilot program launched earlier this year at the retailer’s Modesto location. The platform serves as an added component of the Save Smart and Lucky You rewards programs, offering shoppers in-store and online savings, including coupons, points, rewards and eScrip, available via its app or website. For a $5 fee per order, customers’ items will be hand-selected by a personal shopper staffed at each participating store. The retailer is waiving the fee for a limited time in honor of the platform’s recent roll out.

Save Mart has also donated $2,500 of online credit to feed children of Camp Taylor, a free medically-supervised residential camp for children and teens with heart disease.

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“Camp Taylor is excited to use the new Save Mart ClickCart shopping in preparation for providing heart healthy and nutritious meals for cardiac kids attending day camps this summer,” Camp Taylor Founder and Executive Director Kimberlie Gamino said in a statement. “This will help simplify and organize the entire process of ordering many foods while also saving us time and resources.”